Fans to Reid: Thanks but so long

Many grateful for Eagles coach's winning record, but feel change was long needed.

Fans enjoy the action during the Eagles vs Redskins game at Lincoln Financial… (TAYLOR NEY )

December 31, 2012|By Steve Esack, Of The Morning Call

They sit on Frank Solitario's desk, unwanted and unused.

Testaments to family tradition and fan loyalty pushed to the brink of breaking by three squeakers, mounting injuries, aimless playmakers and maddening, predictable coaching.

They are tickets to the final two home games of the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Why would I go?" asked Solitario, a season ticket holder since 1989. "Waste of time."

The Eagles probably won't be able to fire all the players whose shortcomings made the abysmal 2012 season possible for Solitario, his sons, his sister and their father. But the Eagles finally cut ties Monday with the architect of this 4-12 team and 14 years of increasingly diminishing returns by firing coach Andy Reid.

For Solitario and other fans, Reid's departure was a mixed blessing.

Thank you, Andy, for turning around the franchise, making it to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl, they said. But your time was up — and maybe a while ago.

"He's going to go down in history as the greatest coach ever," said Solitario, a 44-year-old salesman from Hanover Township, Northampton County. "I really liked the guy, but the last couple of years you wondered: What the hell is going on?"

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie called Reid an "outstanding coach and an outstanding person" at a news conference. At 140-101-1, Reid won the most games in team history, but it was time for the franchise to move in a new direction, Lurie said.

The new coach, whether he comes from the NFL or college ranks, will have an easier job than Reid had when he was hired in 1998, Lurie said.

"When Andy came we had to change the culture, turn it around, and that's a much harder job," Lurie said.

As he turned it around, fans filled Veterans Stadium and then Lincoln Financial Field for games, and Lehigh University's Goodman Campus for summer training camps.

The annual pilgrimage of Eagles faithful helped boost the university's presence and show the Philadelphia region the Lehigh Valley was not as far as they may have thought, said Lehigh Athletic Director Joe Sterrett.

"He really valued training camp and ultimately that was good for the Lehigh Valley," Sterrett said.

But it was not just the glamor and glitz of training camp that Sterrett will remember. It was how Reid carried himself without an ego and treated Lehigh staff with class. The public saw this in Reid when his son Garrett died of a drug overdose last summer at training camp, Sterrett said.

"Andy was a quality person and a good person to work with," he said.

The Eagles and Lehigh are under contract for training camp in 2013.

Gail Guerrero, 59, of Upper Saucon Township will be there as she has been since the Lehigh-Eagle marriage started in 1996. Deep down, Guerrero knew it was time for Reid to leave because he became too predictable on game day. But a lot of this year's turmoil was not solely the coach's fault, she said.

First his son died, she said. Then during the season the team was plagued by injuries and lackadaisical players, especially in Sunday's 42-7 thumping by the New York Giants.

Still, Guerrero said, she will remember Reid for his triumphs, not his struggles.

"I'm going to miss him," she said.

RV-tailgating, season-ticket-holding fan Manny Mirabito thanked Reid for the wins. But the Bath resident said Reid should have been let go after the 32-25 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in the 2008 NFC championship game.

"I'm grateful for probably eight years of fantastic football, but the last four to five years I think had just gotten worse and worse," said Mirabito, owner of My Pizza Restaurant in Bath. "The game has changed and he hasn't, and it's become so predictable."

Not just for opponents. But for retailers, too.

Janet Both, manager of Modell's Sporting Goods in the Lehigh Valley Mall, said customers bought the same amount of Eagles goods. But they had less of a selection to choose from because the chain did not stock as much Eagles merchandise this year.

"We based it on how their playing was," Both said.

So did the fans, as evidenced by the empty seats during home games as this season and Reid's tenure dragged to an end.

"He did well while he was there, but unfortunately these last two years, that was it," said fan Pete Kish of Bethlehem Township. "It's a shame he didn't go out on top instead of going down."